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Having just gotten the DVMark Jazz Little amp, and being a long-time lover of Polytones, I decided to try a side-by-side between the DV and an equivalent Polytone. I chose the "Babybrute" with the 10" speaker and closed cabinet for this comparison. Both amps had all EQ at "noon." Both amps were mic'd with a Shure SM57 going into a ProSonus Audiobox iTwo A/D, and via USB out to my iPhone 6s Lightning port.
The guitar is an Epiphone Zephyr Regent Re-issue with the pickup replaced by a GuitarFetish "Mean90" which allegedly is allegedly a vintage P90 clone in a humbucker form factor.
The tune is "Out of Nowhere" with the head (part played with block chords) and two choruses of Jimmy Raney's solo from the Aebersold Vol. 20 play-a-long set.
This isn't a "blind" test, labels and the video itself show you what is up. It switches every 10-15 seconds. I did my best to play with the same attack, etc. but obviously I can't control that variable very well! I did try to equalize the final volume level since people tend to like louder a little better.
I'll say this recording does not capture the different sound of the amps as well as I expected. I might try a different microphone placement, but thought I'd post this for your interest.
NOTE: There was a problem with the L/R separation on the first upload. The backing track is panned full left, the guitar full right. I have uploaded a new clip in place of the old one. Hope this is more helpful.
Last edited by lawson-stone; 01-11-2018 at 11:19 AM.
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01-11-2018 10:13 AM
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Hi Lawson,
something went wrong here
the backing track for the Little Jazz is only in the left channel and MUCH quieter than for the polytone. This makes it almost impossible to evaluate theses amps 
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Working on a fix. But "Almost impossible?" I'll refund your payment.
Originally Posted by jzjazz
Hi Lawson,
something went wrong here the backing track for the Little Jazz is only in the left channel and MUCH quieter than for the polytone. This makes it almost impossible to evaluate theses amps
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Originally Posted by lawson-stone
they're pretty close. That's why the backing track matters. On my studio monitors I hear mainly a difference in the backing track, difficult to stay focused when it flies around in the panorama
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Sorry about your focus problem. I hope the new clip is better. Originally Posted by jzjazz
they're pretty close. That's why the backing track matters. On my studio monitors I hear mainly a difference in the backing track, difficult to stay focused when it flies around in the panorama
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One small nit - it's the "Little Jazz", not "Jazz Little". Of course, a rose, or an amp, by any other name...
To my ears the Little Jazz is subtly brighter. Somewhat unsurprising, considering that it has a smaller speaker. But the difference is not huge, at least in that clip. Both sound good. I really don't think a comparison between the Little Jazz and my AI/RE rig would show more differences.
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Geeze you guys are anal this morning. Originally Posted by sgosnell
Hope this helps somebody. I'm done with it.
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Nice job, Lawson. I liked the sound of the Epi through both amplifiers. I could tell (eyes closed) the difference between the two, of course. Both amps provide a great jazz tone. To me, the Polytone is warmer at a 12-noon setting than the DVMark, but I would be happy with either.
Thanks for the clip.
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Note to self: More emojis.
My tongue was in my cheek, but I've been seeing Jazz Little for several days, and just couldn't hold off any longer.
Please don't hate me for it. I really do appreciate the post, since I don't own a Polytone, and it's interesting to hear different amps like this. You seldom get to hear comparisons with the same settings, same volume, especially not with jazz tones and playing. Thanks again for your efforts.
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great post LAwson...refunded...LOL
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Excellent Lawson, thanks for putting this together. I own a DV Mark Jazz Little, which I like very much, never owned a Polytone so I enjoyed the comparison.
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What's aggravating is that I actually thought it WAS called the "Jazz Little" kind of like "Jazz 12" and it was sort of intentionally awkward. Sheesh. I'm losing brain cells at an alarming rate. Originally Posted by sgosnell
Note to self: More emojis.
My tongue was in my cheek, but I've been seeing Jazz Little for several days, and just couldn't hold off any longer. Please don't hate me for it. I really do appreciate the post, since I don't own a Polytone, and it's interesting to hear different amps like this. You seldom get to hear comparisons with the same settings, same volume, especially not with jazz tones and playing. Thanks again for your efforts.
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We all know that the Little Jazz and the Jazz Little are one in the same amp, at least they certainly sound the same!
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Aren't we all.losing brain cells at an alarming rate
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I could do a side-by-side... wait... Originally Posted by ESCC
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Polytone is to my ears the better sounding amp
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Let’s have some love for Lawson! Originally Posted by lawson-stone
I really like these comparison vids you do Lawson, great fun and interesting.
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Nice job, Lawson! Both amps have a great warm, round jazz tone, with the DVMLJ being ever-so slightly brighter than the PTone, nothing that could not be fixed with a couple-three degrees of knob, IMHO. Thank you for taking the time and expending the effort to bring us these videos!
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What's bizarre is that playing them, the Polytone sounds much brighter! I also have a fairly large room here, about 400 square feet, and a wireless amp connection, so I play all over the room and listen, and the Polytone has a more compressed, brighter tone than the DV to my ear. But recorded, they sound very close. I gotta work more on the mic placement issue, or maybe go to a different mic? Originally Posted by citizenk74
Nice job, Lawson! Both amps have a great warm, round jazz tone, with the DVMLJ being ever-so slightly brighter than the PTone, nothing that could not be fixed with a couple-three degrees of knob, IMHO. Thank you for taking the time and expending the effort to bring us these videos!
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Hey Lawson,
You're sounding good! Slightly off topic, but you mentioned playing stuff you learned from Aebersold #20?
I've only done a little note-for-note solo learning, but you've got me thinking about more of it. I tend to focus my study more toward scales, theory, and method. But I'm hearing some sweet licks in there and wouldn't mind getting some of that under my fingers.
Do you have any other favorite books to recommend in addition to Aebersold #20?
BTW, did you express a preference for either amp? Just curious . . .
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I started on the Aebersold/Raney book with a group on this forum, mainly because learning licks and scales was getting me nowhere. Learning complete solos has helped me think more about the longer idea. Plus these solos are a master-class in bebop from the Master bop guitarist. Every measure is gold! Originally Posted by Longways to Go
I am migrating to the DV Mark amp, mainly because the Polytones are aging and the DVMark has features I enjoy using, like aux. line in for backing tracks. Still, every time I plug in a Polytone I'm reminded what a splendid amp this is! I wish I could capture the differences (both are great) in a recording. But I have limited gear and limited knowledge/ability in recording.
Thanks for listening.
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Okay, what follows is purely conjectural on my part. It has struck me that your office, from what I can see, is a very friendly sonic environment, what with the rows of well-filled bookshelves opposite windowed walls providing a nice balance of reflective and absorptive surfaces. The perceived brightness of the Polytone may be an artifact of the PT's larger speaker simply moving more air and getting more reflected highs back to your ear. I may well be wrong (historically that's a pretty safe bet), but it's a thought. Another possibility is that mic placement is having an influence. My experience has been that the area of the cone vis-a-vis rim-to-center distance has a big influence on recorded tone. The same 1/2" move on an 8" cone has a bigger effect than on a 10" or 12" cone. It's proportional to the radius. It's something to consider. Originally Posted by lawson-stone
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Those are good ideas. I did two more experiments today. First, I used the Bluebird "Blue" microphone and set it back, maybe 15" from he speakers and did the same head/solo on each amp. Then I ran the direct line out from each amp and did a recording of each of those. Originally Posted by citizenk74
I don't think I'll post these because, geeze, that poor solo is being played to death! But from my listening, I still couldn't separate the two amps consistently nor could I even separate the mic'd recordings from the direct line recordings.
I was thinking about trying a blind comparison but those can often just lead to contention and my own recording technique might not be sufficient to make that a valid test. I might just split the solo into 4 chunks and in one clip have a bit of each amp, mic'd and direct, and be done with it.
Needless to say, though, the DV Mark is easily a worthy heir to the little Polytone. Not slighting the Polytone at all, mind you, but the DV Mark is definitely, to my ear, in the zone with the PT. Someone happy with their Polytone's performance and reliability might not need to replace it with the DVMLJ unless they wanted the XLR line out (Polytone has a pre-amp direct, but not XLR) or the Aux. input. Those might not be enough to warrant the purchase. ON the other hand, someone with a Polytone that is breaking down and becoming unreliable would, I think, be happily served by the DVMark amplifier.
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FWIW, a Baby Brute has an 8" speaker. Polytone made a nice amp with a 10" speaker, the Teeny Brute. I believe both amps in the clips had 8" speakers.
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Agreed, excellent job, Lawson. Originally Posted by Greentone
A key factor in the comparison is the well used Polytone’s speaker compared to the unbroken in speaker in the Little Jazz. I briefly plugged my Eminence GASC64-12 into my Little Jazz and zooey mama! The GASC64 replicates, as best as possible, 50 year old well played speaker. It was an amazing clean, hit you in the gut tone.
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